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Title:
Connecting Gamma-Ray Bursts and Galaxies: The Probability of Chance Coincidence
Authors:
Cobb, Bethany E.; Bailyn, Charles D.
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520.), AB(Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520.)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 677, Issue 2, pp. 1157-1167. (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
04/2008
Origin:
UCP
ApJ Keywords:
Gamma Rays: Bursts
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2008: The American Astronomical Society
DOI:
10.1086/533427
Bibliographic Code:
2008ApJ...677.1157C

Abstract

Studies of gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies are crucial to understanding GRBs. However, since they are identified by the superposition in the plane of the sky of a GRB afterglow and a galaxy, there is always a possibility that an association represents a chance alignment, rather than a physical connection. We examine a uniform sample of 72 GRB fields to explore the probability of chance superpositions. There is typically a ~1% chance that an optical afterglow will coincide with a galaxy by chance. While spurious host galaxy detections will, therefore, be rare, the possibility must be considered when examining individual GRB/host galaxy examples. It is also tempting to use the large and uniform collection of X-ray afterglow positions to search for GRB-associated galaxies. However, we find that approximately half of the 14 superpositions in our sample are likely to occur by chance, so in the case of GRBs localized only by an X-ray afterglow, even statistical studies are suspect.

Using observations from the Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System (SMARTS) consortium, which operates four telescopes at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO).

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